re: TGBFTL- what has happened to it?

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People in this thread have outlined that the best players have to be enticed to come to LSU to play, just like football. So, how in the hell is Athletics paying for anything and everything that Tiger Band could ever want when they aren't doing this?

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100% true. This is the reason I went to LSU and was in TGBFTL. I had academic and music scholarships that covered my entire tuition and had the band stipend and another that was designated for out of state students that doubled the amount during marching season and then gave us the single stipend during the spring. My parents could have never afforded to send me out of state without that scholarship.

When I was in TGBFTL from 93-97, at least 1/3 of the students were from out of state, and many of us were music majors. I was from Memphis and was joined by 3 others from there the next year. We had several from Florida, specifically Gainesville since Wickes had worked there and knew the HS director well. My wife and several others came from MS, mostly Jackson and South MS. There were a few from AL and GA. A few from VA. Several from TX, as well. They pulled from all over the south at the time.

Scholarship money is key (along with better leadership and ending the political bullshite) to getting things back on track. Tiger Band needs the best in LA, but they also need a lot of strong out of state kids to get the program back where it belongs. There just happen to be a world of great HS programs in TX. Hell, there are currently two programs in MS and one in Shelby Co, TN listed in the top 12 HS bands in the southeast (not including TX) and there are a few others around here just outside of those rankings that are just on the outside. My daughter happens to be in one of them (Hernando HS in Hernando, MS).

LINK

These are competitive programs going to Bands of America Regionals and Super Regionals and making finals and winning their classes. We are gearing up for our first year of our daughter doing Indoor Percussion, and they will be traveling a bunch this spring, including to the WGI National Championships in Dayton, OH. It’s year-round and super competitive. These are programs that are putting out kids who get full rides to any local university (OM, State, Memphis, USM), and the best can aim higher than that.

When I was in high school, LSU was still a name that made you turn your head. I grew up in a family of Tennessee fans and had a scholarship to go there back when they still had a very good band program. I didn’t even think twice about turning it down when LSU offered a full ride. You want these kids? LSU can get them. It still has a name, even with the recent struggles. Maybe they can’t get the top tier out of state kids today, but with money and effort, the right kids to turn the program around are out there within a 6 hour drive from campus.

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I noticed that in the Dome. FSU had the better band that night. At the time I thought it was because I sat on the FSU sideline; sad to hear they are not loud enough in TS as well.

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I went to grad school at FSU after LSU. That is one of the better music programs in the south and one of the 5 largest in the country.

However, not only are they better, they are also MUCH bigger. They run between 450-500. That’s almost 200 more than TGBFTL. Even in better days FSU had a much bigger sound.

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As someone who knew Roy when he was a GA, I can say one thing- at least he gave a shite. He honestly wasn’t the level of director the program needed, but he didn’t oversee the kind of decline we witnessing now. He just wasn’t able to push it forward, or push back against the political forces that were lined up against the program.

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Roy was at least good enough and engrained enough to keep the Frank Wickes culture. Tiger Band is lost now with no connection to the past.

Amen!!

No "Neck," don't care... Geaux Tigers!

Need to use the transfer portal and gets some good people out of Southern U

Never noticed the picked up tempo on the songs until this thread. Now its all i can hear when i watch the games

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the real enemy is Damon Talley

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Exactly!! Talley is using the Tiger Band to fund "other" things in the School of Music. He is a terrible person! Talley knows "just enough" to effectively cover his tracks.

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Kelvin Jones is just out of his league.

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He really is. I was in band when he was a grad assistant and he was good enough at that but that should have been the end of his Tiger Band directing career

Pretty pathetic they would make such a lazy hire for such a prestigious position

It started going down hill with Roy King. Llinas left before he could stabilize it, but he sfarted doing more interesting stuff. Then, Covid hit. I’m sure they’ll recover eventually, but it’s going to take a few years to get enough classes of freshmen in to get the numbers back up. They need more kids auditioning so there’s more competition over cuts. It’s hard to get maximum effort when there’s no fear of losing your spot in the halftime show or pregame. Linda would cut you from pregame if you were having a bad hair day.